Nicola, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brian Thompson (of Icklesham and the Garden Shop on Strand Quay) was married at St. Anthony's on Saturday to Tom Cusack, whose family comes from Stockton-on-Tees. Nicola's dress, of ivory satin brocade, was in fact her mother's wedding-dress, which needed hardly anything by way of alteration! Her bridesmaid, a friend from work, was in sea-green taffeta, and Mrs. Thompson wore red with black and white accessories. The reception was at the George Hotel, and the couple are honeymooning in France. They will be living in Weybridge where Tom is self-employed as a carpenter and joiner (and, lucky chap, already has a house) and Nicola is about to start a new job as an analytical chemist with Beechams Products.
There were also two marriage blessing services at St. Mary's, a wedding at the Methodist Church where the bride came from Staplecross and the bridegroom from Peasmarsh, and another at the Baptist Church where bride and bridegroom were both from Brede. Confetti must have been in short supply in the town!
Two representatives of Rye WRVS were officially invited to the service at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the WRVS's Golden Jubilee. Lucky ticket-holders were Jean Bull-Marshall and Katy Harland, and we felt very proud to be seen with them in the train to London on Thursday. Why aren't you both dressed the same, we asked? In fact Mrs. Harland was wearing the winter tweed jacket and skirt, with a Sixties-style beret; Mrs. Bull-Marshall's summer uniform was in a lighter fabric, but she had the original felt hat with a ribbon. (The current outfits, they told us, are different again.) Medals were to be worn, but both ladies had theirs discreetly tucked into their handbags until they reached the Abbey - there were limits, they said, to what you could wear in the train.
Afterwards Mrs. Bull-Marshall told us that the service, attended by the Queen Mother, was a marvellous experience, a real celebration of what the WVS/WRVS had been doing for the past 50 years - and was there a word about it in the papers next day? Nothing at all, as far as she could see. Good news is no news.
A tragedy marred an otherwise enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend in Rye. On Monday morning at 8.30 there was a collision between a lorry and a Mini Metro on the A259 outside Roxburgh Engineering, and four further vehicles were involved in the accident. The car driver - Andrew Mundy, 27, of Hastings - was killed; it took Rye firemen, assisted by a specially-equipped unit from Hastings, an hour to release the body from the wreckage. The driver of the lorry, a Newhaven man of 32, was taken to RESH suffering from shock. The road was closed for about two hours.
We were sorry to have been away from Rye for the NSPCC Garden Gig at the Ypres on Saturday; it sounds a splendid affair. NSPCC secretary Anne Wood is most grateful to the two instigators, Louis Turpin - who, with a number of his friends, provided the all-ages entertainment - and Dick Pearce who was responsible for the catering and of course the venue. Debbie and Royston Reading, of Udimore Road, slaved all afternoon over a hot and very popular barbecue. The weather was wonderful, and there were hundreds of paying visitors over the seven hours the event lasted (children came free). On Monday afternoon Louis and Dick counted the money and worked out the profit. They were astonished to find that it was roughly £1,300!
Louis is getting on with his own work too; he has a show at the Grape Lane Gallery in York in August, as well as paintings in the summer shows at all his regular galleries.
2.
The tea-party given by the Thomas Peacocke School's local history group at Lower School recently was one of the most enjoyable social events of the year for nearly a hundred guests - all invited because they had filled in the questionnaires, or contributed their memories of pre-war Rye in other ways, as a basis for the "Rye Memories" series.
Tea was provided by Mrs. Nunn's catering class from Upper School, and by the time your reporter arrived most of the guests were sitting back replete to await the entertainment; but first a beautifully-iced cake was cut by Arthur Woodgate and Bill Cutting and handed round by members of the group. The entertainment was in the hands of Lower School second-year pupils; they were reproducing the world of the 1920s as it looked to them - and very funny they were! There was a fashion parade, a couple of family sketches (where a remark about hire purchase - "What you can't pay for, you should do without" - brought nods of very definite approval from an audience many of whom had done just that). The cosy domestic backdrop from the Lower School Christmas play was very suitable for this sort of material - holiday memories, a comic Rye Town Band sketch, a poem about washday, and an obviously (to judge from the laughter) true-to-life sketch about a dance. Four girls danced the Charleston (or was it the Blue Bottom?), there was an account of the Turkeycock Lane ghost, and some of the games of our youth - marbles, skipping, five-stones. We watched flag-drill, and a "Gardener's Worlc programme - and the best bit of all, we though (and certainly extremely popular with the audience), a school sketch which included "Mr. Balcomb, the school attendance officer" arriving on his bicycle to haul a truant back to school closely followed by the nit nurse, who found the entire class infected including the teacher! The entertainment ended with a sing-song, and (as Ray Fooks said when he thanked all those who had worked towards such a good party) we had "a marvellous group of children and a marvellous group of old people who have helped them". The applause was heartfelt and genuine and prolonged.
Because some of the children had buses to catch, two items - a poem about the lifeboat disaster, and a clarinet solo - were performed after the official end of the party, and then the guests left too, having enormously enjoyed themselves and in some cases met old friends for the first time in years. Among those whose absence was much regretted were Ray Balcomb, Ella Harvey, Miss Beeching, and Mrs. Hill (nee Baker) - in Wales for her brother's 90th birthday party.
Mrs. Kirkham has sent a copy of each of the Rye Memories books to the Queen Mother, and recently received a letter from Her Majesty's lady-in-waiting saying that "the Queen Mother is so pleased to learn that the school is continuing to gather information which is set out in such a delightful and interesting way, and she is certain that 'Rye Memories' will bring pleasure to a wide cross-section of your citizens as well as to people of all ages and backgrounds in south and south-eastern England. Queen Elizabeth sends here sincere good wishes for the success of the gathering on 11 May."
At the party, the latest book in the series was on sale: the recollections of Ella Harvey and Raymond Balcomb, two Ryers to whom music has meant a great deal. Miss Harvey went to Sussex House School, kept by the Misses Bushby, and she gives a totally fascinating account of her childhood and the 70 years spent at 21 High Street, where she taught music to most of Rye and also dancing - to the troops at Lydd Camp, in WW2! Miss Harvey, of course, still lives in Rye; Mr. Balcomb moved to Oxford before the war, but-keeps 4n touch with events here. He was also, briefly, at Sussex House School - the two of them may have just overlapped; but he finished his education at the Grammar School (and sang in the St. Mary's choir) before leaving at 16 to be apprenticed at the Rother Iron Works, with take home pay (in 1923) of 2/11d a week. We have no room here to do justice to this book; but it is available (pink cover) at the usual outlets, at the usual £1.99. One more volume, WI Memories, is due out before the end of term; by our reckoning this will be the ninth in the series, but it would help with identification if each had a proper title as well as the overall "Rye Memories" label.
- 3 - THE RYE GAZETTE, 1 June 1988
Police were called to the station car-park at the weekend, by a report of vandalism in the new loos. It wasn't as bad as that, in fact; a coachload of French children had stopped in the town for an hour or so on their way home, and the trouble in the loos was mainly a matter of throwing water and toilet-paper at each other. However, residents will be pleased to know that the offenders were locked into their coach until their teachers got back, and then made to clear up the mess before they departed; summary justice, said Inspector Legg, was done.
The Mayoring Service (see pages 4/5) on Monday was enlivened in two unexpected ways. First, the church was occupied by a BBC television crew. They were in Rye to make a programme about the town for a BBC2 television programme called "Weekend" which goes out to London and the south-east on a Friday evening at 8. They also visited the Museum and one of the potteries, covered the hot-penny-throwing after the Mayoring, and were later due to interview Frank Palmer on top of the church tower - no problem for our mountaineering Mayor, though some of his predecessors might have boggled at the climb (it's the final ladder that is so unnerving!). One of the crew told us that the programme would probably — go out in three weeks' time; perhaps a "Radio Times" reader will enlighten us in time to put it in the GAZETTE?
Catching the eyes of all those entering the church was a very remarkable instrument, awaiting the lunch-time concert by "Musica Viva" (very much enjoyed, we heard later, by those able to attend). Nosing round the pretty little harpsichord, we were fascinated to meet the man who had built it "from a kit" (he said, though we suspect it wasn't quite that easy). The Rev. Christopher Hopkins, Rector of Beckley and Peasmarsh, has spent much of his spare time for the past five years building his harpsichord, and a flowing inscription in Latin above the keyboard recorded both his name and that of the designer, with dates. Everywhere possible, it was beautifully painted with flowers and birds and insects; the painting was the work of Connie Hutchings of Rye Pottery and Rope Walk (we were not really surprised to hear that it was her first harpsichord). The exotic wildlife, however, was taken from Mr. Hopkins' photographs of his previous garden in Botswana, and somehow seemed exactly right for what is now a rather exotic instrument. Mr. Hopkins was not playing it in the concert; he was just there to protect it!
The Friary Gardeners project at Greyfriars has benefited by £514 as a result of Christies' visit to the George on 20 May. A steady stream of people mounted the stairs to the hotel ballroom, clutching odd-shaped parcels or just naked knicknacks for valuation and (in some cases) future sale in the firm's London auction rooms. Pauline Meyer, who organised the whole thing, didn't hear of any really startling "finds" among the items brought, though there was some nice silver and one amazing automaton (clockwork toy). She is most grateful to the team from Christies, who made no charge for their services and their wide range of experience; and also to the George Hotel staff, for the marvellous co-operation which helped to ensure the success of the day. Stewarding and refreshments were in the hands of the Friary Gardeners helpers, who also arranged an excellent raffle; all the prizes went locally except the whisky, won by'a Dover man who had brought something over specially to be valued.
Friary Gardeners is now independent of the Rye Branch of Mencap, and has its own 10-strong Board of Directors with Daphne Hughes as chairman, Pauline Meyer as vice-chairman and Vickie Piper as secretary. They hope to have an open day at Greyfriars in June or July, but are already taking on garden contracts; if you want your lawn mown, for instance, give them a ring - there is a phone on site, Rye 224876. They will still welcome gifts of garden tools and equipment, flower-pots, etc. (same number).
6.
Three little girls sat in a neat row on the bench opposite the reporters' desk at the Town Hall on Monday: Claire, Anna and Katie. Claire and Anna, Mrs. Oliver's grand-daughters, have been familiar figures at the Town Hall during the past two years;. Katie is the new Mayor's grand-daughter, and it was she who presented a posy to the out-going Mayoress - the mother, of course, of her companions on the bench. This, however, was at the end of the impressive cere- mony which marks a change in the Mayoralty here. Sharp at 11, and led by the two mace-bearers, the Council had processed through the packed hall to take their places on and below the dais, and Monica Oliver wore the Mayor's scarlet robe for the last time (Mrs. Dee had been busy refurbishing all the robes). Proposing the election of Frank Palmer as the new Mayor, Duncan Starkey referred to family connections with the area for many years, and to the police background which had provided valuable experience in dealing with people of every kind. "Whilst in no way whole-heartedly committed to the development of tourism", as Mr. Starkey delicately phrased it, Councillor Palmer was the new breed of leader needed today - "a flat-lander with his eye on the mountain tops". The nomination was seconded briefly by Roger Breeds and carried unanimously - whereupon Mr. Palmer and Mrs. Oliver retired for a redistribution of the official robes, etc. Pow clad in Mayoral (as opposed to Deputy-Mayoral) scarlet, Councillor Palmer took the time-honoured Oath, and then received formally the 1951 pennies (part of the town regalia ever since they were snatched back from Rother in 1974).
Then it was the turn of George Shackleton, nominated as Deputy Mayor by Brian Champion with a reference to his "outstanding service both as a District and Town Councillor" and seconded by Geraldine Bromley - "he is ministering now to our corporate rather than our bodily ills", she said of the ex-Boots dispenser. This nomination too was carried unanimously, and Councillor Shackleton was also clad in scarlet to take the Oath. Gus Gale, the Mayor's Sergeant, then swore fealty, and Les Paine was reappointed as second macebearer for the 16th year in succession - his first Mayor was Dr. Vidler, he told us (the last Mayor to head Rye Borough Council).
Then it was the turn of the ladies. The Mayor appointed his wife Irene, well known in the town from her part-time job at the rates office, as his Mayoress, and near neighbour Joan Camier presented her with a posy. (Canon Maundrell, reappointed as chaplain, didn't get a posy!) Mrs. Oliver was presented with the first badge of a set commissioned by the Council from goldsmith Peter Farrow to be given to ex-Mayors. Then Geraldine Bromley presented to the ex-Mayoress, on behalf of the Council, an inscribed copy of "The Book of Rye" and also a specially-lettered plate, a personal gift from "your dear Mama" as Geraldine delightfully put it.
After all that, the whole party processed into St. Mary's for a brief service, and then back to the Town Hall to throw hot pennies from the windows to the children waiting below in the rain (and quite a few adults, too). Then it was time for lunch at the George Hotel - from whose balcony, years ago, the pennies were thrown too (perhaps before the Town Hall got a Baby Belling?).
Guests of honour at both Mayoring and luncheon were the High Sheriff of East Sussex and Mrs. Hardcastle (who, it turned out, were the donors of the superbly-carved cabinet given to the town in September 1985 and now in the Mayor's Parlour - see GAZETTE no. 145); the new Chairman of Rother (Councillor Boyd) and his wife; the Chairman of ESCC; the Town Mayor of Dover (this year's Speaker of the Cinque Ports) and his wife; the Mayor of Hastings and her husband; the Mayor of Winchelsea (Jurat Guy Hughes) and Mrs. Hughes; and Rye's Freeman (the only current Freeman, as far as we know?), Geoffrey Bagley and his wife Rosemary. After an excellent lunch, toasts were proposed in a more relaxed atmosphere; Roger Breeds, for instance, suspected aloud that from now on Councillors would be expected to approach the Council Chamber via the north face of the Town Hall! (Our mountaineering Mayor is clearly not to be allowed to forget his reputation; but then, less than two years ago he was anchoring Victoria Wood half-way up a Dorset cliff to oblige the BBC!)
(continued...)
5.
(continued)
Frank Palmer had been researching early English currency. Not many people know, he said, that the original penny was made of silver, of such a size that 240 of them could be made from one pound of the metal; he liked to envisage a very early Mayor of Rye distributing this kind of penny from a wattle-and-daub Town Hall: More seriously, he said it was vital to ensure that Rye remains a country town surrounded by sheep, country lanes and bluebell woods - all as much part of the place as the church and the cobbled streets. He referred to the improving relationship built up with Rother since 1974 - so much improved, he said (with a gleam in his eye) that "Rother has just promised to spend the whole of its budget in Rye this year - though the Chairman thought he was just signing the Visitors' Book!" (What a lovely thought...) Jo Kirkham proposed the health of the guests - including two of Frank's police colleagues - and the Mayor of Winchelsea replied suitably. And finally, your Editor was astonished and honoured to be presented by the Mayor with a testimonial bearing the Town Seal and the signatures of the Mayor and Town Clerk "as a token of the Council's esteem", plus a beautifully-made shield bearing the seal and arms - atestimonial to the GAZETTE, but not forgetting all those who have helped us with it since September 1982.
The invitation was 4srom "The Mayor and Mayoress", but the buffet supper at the Town Hall given by Monica Oliver and her daughter Suzanne was a real family party. Dick Oliver was in charge of the catering; Claire and Anna Burgess made delightful wine waitresses. In a brief speech, Mrs. Oliver thanked her Mayoress, Councillors, Town Clerk and all who had helped her during her Mayoralty, including members of Rother Council staff who were well represented among the guests. Mrs. Oliver's Mayoralty has been no sinecure, as her periodic reports to the Council show; but apart from her official duties in Rye and elsewhere, she has had all the worry of the A259 route to cope with as well as the various threats to the hospital (and, for all we know, other threats not yet "gone public"). It was a pleasure to her friends to see her looking so radiant at the end of this hectic two years, and a pleasure, too, to know that she will continue taking a full part in the work of the Council. She and Dick have a short holiday planned, but there is not going to be much sitting back and relaxing for Rye's Monica:
Because of the Bank Holiday, we were not able to check with Rother the planning results from last Thursday's meeting; but Roger Breeds, who is on the Planning Committee, tells us that the two Rye applications went according to the recommendations. Permission was refused for a new house in Fishmarket Road (between Winton's Steps and Skinners) on three grounds including over-development. It was granted for change of use of the ground floor of 2 Cyprus Place to a physiotherapist's surgery; Jean McBride intends to open her practice at the beginning of October. (We will report next week on the result of one Playden and two Rye Harbour applications also considered on Thursday.)
Permission under the delegated procedure has recently been given for the incorporation of the living accommodation above and behind the EMBS premises into the existing office; for a new shopfront for Mr. Patel at the Corner Shop in Market Road; for two short-term site cabins at the telephone exchange in Mill Lane; and for an extension at 46 Cadborough Cliff.
ESCC is consulting Rother about interest shown by the developers of the Centre Pares holiday village in Sherwood Forest, in setting up something similar in East Sussex. ESCC feels that, for the sake of the jobs created, such a development would best be sited at the eastern end of the county. The County Planning Officer's report appears as agenda item 7 in last Thursday's Planning Committee papers, available at the Council Offices; it is far too soon for us to go into details here, and no prospective site has been identified at this stage. But it could happen, somewhere.
6.
At the meeting of the Community Health Council at the Town Hall last month, the loss of the casualty service at Rye Hospital was one of the subjects raised by members of the public; people from Rye and the villages spoke about it. Colin Tarry and Liz Woodward of the Hastings Health Authority were present, and Mr. Tarry said that after the HHA decision in April, a consultation document was being prepared which would be sent out to all interested bodies - as far as we could make out, this meant local councils. This document, he said, would not be ready until the end of June, and a three-month consultation period has to follow it before a final decision can be taken. (So Parish Clerks will have to be alert over the July and August holiday period, when some Councils don't meet - or they may fail to meet the end-of-September deadline for comments and objections.)
Responses to the document will be discussed at the HHA's October meeting (and the General Manager told Mrs. Yates that he would personally look at all letters on the subject, as we reported several weeks ago) - assuming, that is, that everything runs to time. If a decision is made at that meeting, then we could lose our casualty in October - but we had the feeling, at the Town Hall, that it might more likely happen in November. If it happens at all, of course: the consultation document has to include satisfactory proposals for alternative arrangements if Rye casualty does close. Present staffing and accommodation at the two medical practices in Rye cannot possibly allow for even minor first-aid cover full-time - and minor first-aid cover is all we are asking for, since major casualties go in the ambulance to Hastings anyway, and have done for years. A member of the Council who had recently been treated in casualty at Hastings said that the staff there were all keeping their fingers crossed for the continuance of the Rye service, since the extra workload if it did close would completely swamp their already overworked department. (Which is just what we have all been saying here for months...)
Unigate took over Winter's Dairies on Sunday. We asked Michael Bourn how the milkmen who couldn't face the trek which we described in GAZETTE no. 271 would be faring, and it was good news that everyone is fixed up for the moment, either in a new job or working self-employed. Moreover, none of the ex-milkmen who are also firemen are too far out of town to continue with the Fire Brigade; Mr. Bourn is confident that he can continue to send out one fire-engine immediately, though there might have to be a five-minute delay on a second while her crew pelt into Rye from (say) Scots Float.
Adams the Printers have just issued a revised edition of their "Historical Guide to Rye Royal". Originally written by Clifford Foster's father Jim, this is the 23rd edition, edited and revised by Kenneth Clark. Mr. Clark says "Our policy has been basically confined to the correction of errors of fact and the inclusion of such new material as we believe will be of interest both to the visitor and the Ryer". Without a copy of the old guide, it is difficult to tell how much of the present text is new, but we feel sure that Mr. Clark has put a great deal of work into his revisions.
For the next edition, perhaps something might be said under "Town Hall" about the redecorations which were completed only a couple of years ago and which brought it back (as far as can be ascertained) to its original appearance? Also, it might be helpful to give an address and phone number for each of the local papers listed, since none of them is Rye-based. (At present, letters sent to "The Local Paper, Rye" are delivered to Cyprus Place; what the Post Office will do next month, we don't know!)
The Guide's 75 pages of text include an index and a large number of illustrations - after a tour round the town, there are sections on various aspects of Rye's history. The A5 format is convenient for pocket, handbag or posting; the cover photograph shows horses waiting to be shod at the forge beside the Landgate Arch.
7.
• We apologise to the News for attributing to them, in last week's account of the Rother dog-mess prosecution, something which they never said. Mr. Bridges' remark about his dog's habits and intentions was made to Mrs. Luck, and was quoted in court as part of her statement in evidence; Mr. Bridges didn't say anything at all to the magistrates himself, since he wasn't there. So the remark may well have been made in the heat of the moment and not intended as a policy statement! We are very sorry about this inaccuracy on our part.
• Congratulations to Douglas and Stella Sealy on the birth of their son Timothy Brian, on 20 May in Treliske Hospital, Truro. This is the first grandchild for Brian and Anne Sealy, ex-Brede, ex-RAFA, ex-TPS, ex-ATC - and now of Cornwall. Brian tells us that he and Anne miss their friends made over the last 25 years and would love to hear from any who happen to be in Cornwall. Their letting cottage is nearly finished, and they are hoping to try a little b-and-b later in the year, embarking on it on a more regular basis in 1989. So if you are likely to be holidaying near Helston, note the phone number now.
• The St. Anthony's Church newsletter reveals that the Restoration Fund has now topped £17,000. There is to be a special Mass at 7.30 on the Feast of St. Anthony, 13 June (wouldn't it be super if they could reach £20,000 by then!). The sponsored skip raised £102 - plus a very nice picture in the Express of Father David taking part.
• Please could the Town Council consider putting some coat-hooks in the Town Hall "Ladies"? There is nowhere to hang wet macs except on the back of the door which is fine for the first comer, but subsequent macs end up wet inside from the one beneath. As the complainant, we would be happy to provide the Council with a row of hooks, if Gus could find the time to put them up.
• We are asked to mention the series of Rye Collectors Fairs, organised by Pat Waring and Jean Addy of 5 Ferry Road and selling postcards, photographs, comics and other ephemera. They will take place at the Community Centre on a regular basis, from llam to 9pm on the second Thursday of each month; the next is 9 June.
• A puzzled reader tells us that someone is digging a deep trench along the far side of Rock Channel; is this the start of a marina, he wonders? The answer to that must be 'no', since there is no planning permission for anything in that field at present; the diggers probably belong to Southern Water, but since your reporter was out of Rye at the end of last week and Monday was a Bank Holiday, it has not been possible to find out. Anyway, unless our informant was pulling our leg (and we haven't had time to look for ourselves), the trench was big enough to take a car; so please, Southern Water, what's going on?
• Rother has been informed of a competition open to all local authorities running Save-a-Can recycling schemes, with prizes of cash to local charities nominated by the winners. We have no idea if Rother is likely to be in the running for a prize, but the more cans (washed and squashed, please) placed in the can-bank on Strand Quay, the more likely a local charity is to benefit from up to £400 prize money from the can manufacturers sponsoring the competition.
• Geoffrey Bateman has made a half-year summary of signatures in the St. Mary's visitors' book (since we shall not be here to publish his annual one). 3,922 visitors have signed from the British Isles, 1,046 from West Germany, 735 from France and 328 from the United States. This is, as Geoffrey points out, the slack half of the year; far more visitors come during the next six months, so the 1987 record may still be broken.
• Has anyone got equipment for copying material (a non-commercial recording) from a tape reel to an audio cassette? In the course of clearing out, the Editor has found three family recordings which (if still usable) she might want to preserve - if she knew what was on them! Help would be much appreciated. And can anyone tell us of an ordinary tape-recorder that simply records and plays back reliably, at a reasonable price? No-one seems to make them any more…
FRAG outing to the Turner Gallery at the Tate (seats still available, see below)
Vidler & Co's monthly auction sale, 10
Coffee morning for Mencap, run by Rye Labour Party, Town Hall courtyard, 10
Playden WI Summer Fair, FEC, morning
Coffee morning for Catholic Church (bring-and-buy, produce, cakes, raffle), 89 Winchelsea Road, 10.30 - by kind invitation of Audrey Hatter
One-day school, Wildlife of the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, FEC in the morning, Reserve in the afternoon
Rye WI, flower demonstration (Mrs. Mundenl FEC, 7
"One Man's Challenge to Poverty" (Alec Parks on the Goodwill
Children's Village Society, South India), TH, 7.30
• A reminder that the new Town Bus service started yesterday (DV) - a hourly service between 9 and 4, to and from Playden via Military Road and King's Avenue, and Cadborough Cliff via the Estate, in each case going up into the High Street and starting and ending at the station. Flat fare, 25p single, 40p return, reduction for children. This will only continue to run if it is properly supported - so, use it or lose it!
• There are still some seats available (£7) for tomorrow's FRAG outing to the Turners at the Tate Gallery. The coach leaves Rope Walk sharp at 9. If you want to go (non-members welcome) but have left it too late to call at the Easton Rooms for a ticket, ring Betty Ellwood) or Osma Jones.
• The Miss Rye contest takes place at the Oasis Club on Saturday week (11th) - as usual, well into the evening. Contestants must be female and over 16. Prize money has been increased this year by Round Table, who run the event in conjunction with the Carnival on 6 August; Miss Rye gets £100 (plus a free hairdo and a year's free admission to the Oasis), and her attendants get £50 and £20. Whoever wins will represent Rye at other local Carnivals besides our own; she will have a hard act to follow, since Caroline Davies, the 1987 Miss Rye, set a very high standard in the job.
• Last spring there were 120 nests at the Leasam heronry. Then came the storm; and this year, Jean Bull-Marshall tells us, there are only six nests in the trees which remain. Does anyone know where the rest of the birds have gone? Has anyone got herons for the first time? It would be good to know that the refugees have found a new home somewhere.
• People who have an accumulation of jumble may like to know that the Rye Dance Centre has a jumble sale at the Community Centre on Saturday week (11th); as far as we know, it is the last one for some time.
• The Rye Harbour Nature Reserve had a visit from Alistair Monk of Radio Sussex recently, and on Wednesday morning's 258 Alternative he was heard talking to Barry Yates in the new Colin Green Hide and elsewhere on the Reserve.
• An unusual venue for a fund-raising event is Grove House. Here Mrs. Emma Lampon is holding a Cake Sale on Saturday, 18 June, in aid of the Church of England Children's Society - part of a nationwide series of events for the Society that day, she tells us. The sale will run from 10 to 12.30, and she would be glad of offers to make cakes.
THE RYE GAZETTE is registered as a newspaper with the Post Office, published by Mrs. Mary Owen, 2 Cyprus Place, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7DR (0797 222303), and printed through Cinque Ports Stationers of Rye. Spare copies are available from Young Ideas (children's wear), 7 Cinque Ports Street, price 45p. News deadline is second post on Monday for Wednesday's delivery. (Copyright Mary Owen 1988)